8/5 Practice notes

Before I get to the good and not-so-good of the day, here’s a funny scene from the 49ers first practice in front of fans.

During 11-on-11’s, Alex Smith threw one pass at Ted Ginn’s feet on a five-yard out. The fans didn’t boo, but they gave a collective “oooooo,” and the stands got uncomfortably quiet.

Suddenly, a lady in the front row lost it. She yelled right at Smith, “You’ve got to look-off your receivers!” Fans giggled nervously.

THE GOOD

Larry Grant. The former Ohio St. Buckeye may have had the best practice of anyone on the team today. He picked off Alex Smith once and laid a heavy hit on Kendall Hunter. He started the day as the second-string Ted linebacker, but he ended up with the first team next to Patrick Willis. On one play, Alex Smith rolled out to his right and wanted to throw to Braylon Edwards, who was running a deep crossing route, but Grant had him covered perfectly, running stride for stride with the former Pro-Bowl receiver. Smith had to throw the ball away.

Ian Williams. He stood out at nose tackle. He moved whoever played in front of him, whether it was Adam Snyder or Chase Beeler.

Chris Hogan. He made the catch of the day. After Mays broke up Smith’s pass in the end zone, Harbaugh brought the second-team offense onto the field to do a two-minute drill of their own. On the first play Kaepernick threw a 50-yard Hail Mary to Hogan and he caught it over C.J. Spillman. Hogan appeared to tweak his ankle on the play, but he made the catch anyway.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

Adam Snyder. He got pushed around and he had some bad snaps with the first-team offense. As soon as Goodwin feels comfortable he should take over as the starting center.

Konrad Reuland. He dropped four passes by my count, but he rallied at the end of practice and made some difficult catches on passes thrown behind him.